Redout: Enhanced Edition

Developer: 34BigThings srl | Publisher: 34BigThings srl | Release Date: 2016 | Genre: Racing / Arcade | Website: Official Website | Purchase: Steam

Considering the popularity of titles such as WipeOut and F-Zero, it’s surprising that more developers have not tackled anti-gravity racing. There have been a few contenders over the years, but none that could really match the big names in terms of speed and thrills. When it became clear that even the big franchises were not too keen on delivering sequels anymore, Italian studio 34BigThings took matters into their own hands. The result is Redout: Enhanced Edition, a futuristic anti-gravity racer that is an unabashed homage to F-Zero, WipeOut, Rollcage, and POD.

Redout is set in a future where the Earth has been stripped of natural resources while humanity has moved on to other planets and moons in the solar system. However, Earth has not been forgotten, as it is now home to the Solar Redout Racing League, where anti-gravity ships speed across magnetic tracks at high velocity. In career mode, players join one of the six racing teams, choose a vehicle, and then strap in for some of the fastest races since the genre’s heyday. The story is just an excuse for some exotic tracks, though, as Redout is all about the racing.

Thanks to the Unreal Engine 4 and low-polygon style, the game not only looks great but also runs at a blistering pace. Even in the first of the four available speed classes, the vehicles move at a fair clip, and the further players progress, the faster they become. The tracks also become more convoluted, and towards the end, they have more in common with rollercoasters than roads. This means that the barrier for entry is slightly higher than in other racing games, but putting in the time and practice is definitely worth the effort. Redout is not only one of the fastest racing games available on PC, but once mastered, it is also one of the most fun.

The races in Redout are spread across five different environments, each with multiple individual tracks. From the searing desert sands of Cairo to the frosty environments of Alaska, there is plenty of variety. Players will also plunge underwater on Europa, race through a jungle, and take on the perils of a mining complex inside a volcano.

Thanks to some nice shading and lighting techniques, the tracks look great, especially when tearing through them at high speeds. They look a little less impressive when you slow down, but this is not a game where you are supposed to be going slow anyway. The anti-gravity vehicles look decent, too, and can be customized with various liveries and colors.

The meat of the game is the Career mode, where players compete in races for gold, silver, and bronze medals. Completing races also awards players with money and experience, which can be used to purchase new ships or upgrade the ones they already own. As is usual for the genre, each ship specializes in certain areas, so you can pick whether you want your craft to be as fast as possible, built like a tank, or something in between. Ships are rated in categories like acceleration, maximum speed, grip, structure, recharge speed, and energy pool. It is essential to pay attention to these as different events call for different specialties. In addition to upgrading the ships, players can purchase, install, and upgrade special power-ups. These are split into active and passive groups, but only one of each can be installed at a time. Even the active power-ups lean more towards defense, so don’t expect the missile and mine-laden races of the WipeOut series.

Along with classic races, players will face time trails, survival races, last-man-standing races, boss circuits, and more. There are more than ten different types of events in total, which means that there’s something for everyone. Even better, progression is based on your experience level and not the number of wins you have, so players can move on to other races if they get stuck. This makes it even more satisfying to come back and conquer tracks that previously gave you a hard time.

Redout is a high-speed game and can be made even faster with the right combination of power-ups and upgrades. Speed boost pads on the tracks provide an additional kick, and each craft has a recharging energy pool that can be used to activate a boost, too. Remember that active abilities also use your energy pool, as there are no weapon pickups like in WipeOut. Your energy slowly regenerates while racing, as does your hull, but only if you are not bumping into corners or scraping the track. The physics-based racing is also why we recommend using an analog controller for Redout. Steering works well with the left analog stick, while the right is used to strafe around corners and raise or lower the nose of your craft. The same can be done with the WASD and arrow keys on a keyboard, but it feels more intuitive with a controller. With some practice, it is possible to sling your craft around even the tightest corner without braking, but there is a learning curve to it for sure. Some tracks are so intense that it takes a few tries to memorize the tricky spots.

Anti-gravity racing and good music go hand in hand, so hearing that Redout sounds as good as it looks was a relief. The game uses a dynamic soundtrack, so if you are performing huge jumps or slaloming through intense corners, you can be sure the music will reflect it. The sound effects are decent, too, and the game has a suitably futuristic-sounding female announcer to warn you if your hull is about to cave in from all the abuse.

Overall, Redout is a fast and uncompromising game with very aggressive AI opponents. It makes for some frustrating races where you continually lose by milliseconds, but even last place comes with some experience, so no race is ever a waste. One annoying thing is the number of DLC tracks available in the game. These are listed on the track select screen along with the others and clutter things up for players who do not own them. Kudos, though, to 34BigThings for allowing players to race on DLC tracks in multiplayer as long as the host owns them. The game can even be played in VR, which, when played in the first-person view, is dizzying, to say the least. Apart from the difficulty and learning curve involved, there’s little to fault with Redout. It never quite surpasses the big names in the genre, but as far as tributes go, this is one of the best.